


A Kiss Goodnight

by geekmama



Series: Aftermath [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 17:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17430221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekmama/pseuds/geekmama
Summary: The end of a very long day, and the beginning...





	A Kiss Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> Written for today's I Love You Anniversary, this short fic from Sherlock's pov follows [_Benefit of the Doubt_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12376500) in my [Aftermath](https://archiveofourown.org/series/848343) series, though I believe a reader unfamiliar with that work could still figure out what was going on. My most sincere thanks to the brilliant [Ellis_Hendricks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellis_Hendricks/pseuds/Ellis_Hendricks) for beta reading this.
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> ____________________

It was easy at first. Easy to pretend things were the same. 

The familiarity of her foyer. 

Climbing the staircase after her, then moving down the hallway toward her bedroom, their footsteps muffled by the thick carpet. 

Her bedroom. Their bedroom. But really, it was all her, this room, dimly lit by the small, frilly bedside lamp that she’d had since she was a girl. 

He still had his coat on. He shrugged it off and laid it across the tufted barrel chair in the corner, then stared at it, feeling the oddest twinge at the marked contrast of heavy, dark wool against pale blue velvet. 

“Sherlock?” 

He turned and saw that she had fetched his pyjamas from the bottom left drawer of her dresser. His drawer. They were neatly folded, their faint, clean scent evidence of recent laundering. She had his black toiletry kit in hand, too. 

“Thank you,” he said, taking his things from her. “I’ll… I’ll use the other bathroom.” 

Her lips quirked (God knew she’d seen him naked plenty of times, particularly in these last months, what difference did it make?) but she only nodded and took herself off to her en suite bathroom. 

He padded back out, down the hall, trying not to think. Flashes of the last day had begun to recur, and some of the trauma of that phone call… 

Don’t think. _Don’t think._  

He looked old and tired in the mirror. He scolded himself inwardly, drew himself up, raised his chin. 

_Don’t think!_

  *****

 She was already under the covers when he returned to the bedroom. Aware of the thud of his heart, he switched off the little lamp and got into bed, as he’d done so often before. He thought of the countless times he’d taken advantage of her kindness, her generosity… her _love_. And here they were again, lying there in the black night, after… everything. 

He swallowed rather convulsively. He could feel the warmth of her body, though a little space yawned between them. 

How on earth could he sleep? 

“Sherlock?” she said again, very softly. “Are you all right?” 

He gave a laugh that sounded rather like a sob in the silence. But he said, “Yes.” And then added, ( _Don’t think!_ ), “Molly… may I kiss you?” 

Nonsensical, and far too soon, and-- 

She was moving, closing the space between them. 

He moved, too, a little, and then was drawing her close, and in the silent, black night she raised her face to his. 

And he kissed her. 

A thing of warmth and sweetness. Gentle… caring… loving. 

 _I love you._  

They’d each said those words, not twelve hours since. But Molly had been living them for a long time, and he knew now that he had, too. 

There was tenderness, and a kind of solemnity in the moment, the touch of her lips against his no less than a healing balm. 

His heart slowed. 

There would be time to think later. 

He drew her close and she settled against his shoulder. Her right hand found his left and their fingers laced together. She gave a small sigh, and his lips curved at the sound, and at the ghost of that benediction lingering upon them. 

Perhaps, after all, they would be able to sleep.

 

~.~

 


End file.
